"We have not heard anything but positive things," Martone said. "We were very excited to see how quickly and efficiently the contractors worked to get the project done in a reasonable time frame. The improvements have helped with the traffic flow tremendously."

Two loop ramps have been built at the outbound U.S. 290 frontage road and Barker Cypress to improve mobility and safety.

Joe Scala, general manager of the H-E-B Cypress Market store, was at first concerned about the construction because he figured customers would miss their favorite grocery store if they could not see it while sitting at the traffic light.

But the ease of the commute has made business a little more brisk, he said.

Martone, who has heard a lot of positive things about the construction from people like Scala, said her staff has also noticed the ease of mobility the upgrades have created.

"Out entire staff drives that on a regular basis," she said. "People are just pleased that the mobility is much better."

The U.S. 290 project, which began at the Loop 610 connector near the Galleria in 2011, has been an area of concern for reasons that range from noise mitigation between the city of Jersey Village and TxDOT, to the actual cost and length of time to complete the project.

The ultimate vision of the U.S. 290 program originally had a price tag of $4.7 billion and included a multimodal approach consisting of widening and reconstruction of U.S. 290 between Loop 610 and Waller County that would not have been completed until at least 2035.

In 2011, transportation officials combed through a list of projects to explore what improvements could be delivered sooner rather than later.

"The frontage road project at Barker Cypress was selected as one of these projects to move forward as a Transportation System Management project utilizing the resources we currently had to bring relief to commuters," Othon said.

The changes not only helped TxDOT streamline some of the other projects, like Barker Cypress Road, but trimmed about 20 years of the timeline to complete the entire project.

With the frontage roads at Barker Cypress complete, contractors have turned their attention to putting the finishing touches on two detention ponds on each side of Barker Cypress, while also prepping for Project D on U.S. 290.

Program D, which is scheduled to being in early 2014, will rebuild U.S. 290 main lanes and widen remaining frontage roads in various locations along U.S. 290 between Telge Road, to east of Mueschke Road, as well as reconstructing the Barker Cypress bridge over U.S. 290.